It’s a place of wonder and imagination, though it sits in a muddy field behind fences just north of the centre of Morinville – and it’s not even open yet. Many curious onlookers have reveled with glee at the sight of the Fable Daycare with its curvy high-sloped gable roof and crooked chimneys, all anticipating the day that the centre will finally receive its first visitors.
They’ll have to wait at least six more months till the project is finished.
Developer Robert Chauvet said that his retirement project was inspired by a trip to Victoria many years ago and it just stuck with him. Morinville, he figured, has been in a boom period and there are lots of parents who need new daycare spaces.
So why not make something big and, even more importantly, why not make it fun?
“It’s the magic of fairy tales,” he enthused. “It’s for the kids.”
The $2.5 million development will feature nearly 500 sq. m. of floor space on the main level with another 130 sq. m. upstairs, enough to suit a maximum of 90 kids. There will be lots of space for programming and rooms have been designed with kid-sized doors and windows to suit the fancies of the intended attendees.
“That’s what the kids will remember.”
Certainly they will also remember the stories that he has created to accompany the unique architecture such as the funny shape of those chimneys.
“The reason the chimneys are crooked is because a giant sat on them and squished them. Kids all helped build the building and they all went around looking for trees and pieces of wood. Because some kids were little and some were tall, some had big sticks and some had little. When they tied them together to make the roof, some places were higher than the others. That’s how come the roof goes up and down.”
Once the interior walls are finished, he’s going to have a mural painter create some colourful pictures inside to keep their eyes open wide.
The construction phase has been a family effort. Chauvet’s own grown children designed some of the windows while his wife Hien did some of the drawings on the windows and other artistic work.
The project is right on schedule for early next summer, Chauvet noted. Even if there are some setbacks, he’s confident that the doors – both adult and kid-sized ones – will be open by the time school starts in September 2017.
Chauvet indicated that interest has been very high and spaces are almost already full. Those who are interested in signing their children up for a spot should call as soon as possible to 587-341-3535.
